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Fan Clutch issue

I'd like to hear members "take" on the following. I have a high mileage (230,000) e39 which I have owned for three years. Recently replaced the fan,fan clutch, water pump and belts. Ran perfectly for 2,000 miles!!!

Last week I heard a rattling which got louder and louder. Opened the hood and the fan had come off the clutch and was hitting the fan shroud.

I havent yet had time to jack the car up and look further but.....Has anyone ever heard of this happening? I had used special tools to remove old fan and fan clutch recognizing the parts spun on counter clockwise.
I must have done it correctly as I drove 2,000 miles without a hint of a problem.

Just wondered if anyone has run into something like this before . Any insights greatly appreciated. I love this car and was initially very proud of having done the work myself. Now???????? jlshand

Re: Fan Clutch issue

Craig,

Thanks for responding. The fan is totally off the clutch. I can move it around but of course can't get it out because of the shroud. I remember having trouble getting the fan properly mounted with the three hex screws but finally got it the only way it would fit and I tightened those hex screws plenty well.

Have you ever heard of these working their way loose despite 2,000 miles with NO problems? Is it likely I will need to replace the clutch again as well as the fan itself? Even with the fan clattering against the shroud I was able to drive home without any change in engine temperature.

I havent gotten underneath yet but there doesnt appear to be any wobble in the clutch or pump. There was wobble in the old pump which caused the problem (shredded belt) to begin with.

Re: Fan Clutch issue

Craig,

My car is a 528I. I've taken a closer look and found the fan was attached to the clutch with just one of the three original nuts. And it was already hand loose. Found another nut at the bottom of the shroud. So I have been able to remove the last loose nut and the fan. The fan doesnt look broken in any way.

Now the nut is just a one inch hex nut (#4 on the top) which fit in tightly but was/is not long enough to extend very far into the clutch. Certainly not long enough to bolt through the clutch.

Do you think just replacing with three longer nuts (and bolts) should work? Any thing obviously wrong with nuts extending further into the clutch itself? Given of course they dont extend so far as to hit something behind the clutch. I believe I installed the fan to the clutch correctly because it was my third configuration attempt and the only one that provided sufficient clearance. Yet I'm hard pressed to think these nuts would come off so easily.

My shroud was already in pretty bad shape so I sawed away enough that I think I can re-attach the fan from the top.

when you installed them back, you left them loose

The fan blade was was not properly set on the clutch and even though you tightened them, they got loose once they got seated.

Those bolts are unheard of coming loose. But to avoid this, use a light thread blocked next time. (blue colored) and cross tighten them, but do not over tighten them either. When you say they are too short, could it be that they broke in half ? And you still have the other half stuck in the clutch ? in that case forget the Wheaties in the morning and use a torque wrench with a new bolts/clutch. It would be next to impossible to get the remaining half of the bolt from the clutch